New Delhi, Aug. 23 -- Emanating from curiosity, quest, or doubt, questioning had always been a part of our rich ancient intellectual, theological and philosophical traditions. This tradition is manifested strongly in our ancient learning system. In the Prashna-Upanishad, one of the earliest of the Upanishad texts, pupils used to pose six great questions to a wise teacher. Our Vedas, epics, and religious and philosophical texts grappled with many questions, quenching in the process our intellectual thirst and broadening our world-view.

Speculating on the very creation of the world, Rigveda posed deep dialogical questions: "Whence this creation has arisen?", "Is there a God?", "Who really knows?" The profoundly important question that Mait...